Cold Smoking and Maturing Rooms for Food Production

Introduction

Cold smoking and fermentation are key processes for producers of dry-cured meats such as salami and raw ham. Maintaining stable temperature, humidity and airflow throughout these stages is critical for both product quality and food safety. Protech’s cold smoking and maturing rooms provide a controlled environment optimised for consistent results in industrial food production.

What Is Cold Smoking?

Cold smoking is the process of exposing products to smoke at low temperatures, typically between 12°C and 35°C. Unlike hot smoking, it does not cook the meat but instead adds flavour and preserves structure. This makes it ideal for products like salami, cured ham, and air-dried sausages that undergo long maturation periods.

How Maturing Complements the Smoking Process

After cold smoking, products enter a controlled maturing phase. The room’s climate ensures fermentation and moisture reduction occur gradually, contributing to taste development, texture refinement, and shelf life extension. Both phases require precise climate management to avoid inconsistencies and contamination.

Key Features of Protech’s Solution

Controlled Airflow

Protech’s system uses a powerful centrifugal fan placed outside the chamber. Airflow is controlled via a frequency converter, ensuring even treatment of all products regardless of load or batch size.

Automated Climate Control

A microprocessor manages chamber temperature, core temperature, humidity and time. Up to 99 custom programs can be stored for repeatable and product-specific processing.

Hygienic and Efficient Heating & Cooling

The stainless-steel heating and cooling coils are integrated into the air handling unit, ensuring easy cleaning, thermal efficiency and food safety compliance.

Integration and Flexibility

Protech’s cold smoking and maturing rooms can be delivered as standalone cabinets or integrated into existing facilities. Whether used for traditional meat products or plant-based alternatives, the modular system can be tailored to any production scale.

Conclusion: Precision-Controlled Environments for Cured Food Excellence

Cold smoking and maturing require stable, automated conditions to deliver the taste, safety and consistency expected in industrial food processing. With Protech’s engineered solution, food producers gain complete control from start to finish.